2022 Pro Bono Award Presented to Abigail Seymour

In 1996, the GBA established the Pro Bono Award given annually to a member of our Bar Association in recognition of that individual’s outstanding service.

Rule 6.1 of our State Bar’s Rules of Professional Conduct provides that we should aspire to render at least 50 hours of pro bono services per year.  

And why are we urged to do this?  The comments to Rule 6.1 answer that question – and the answer includes that there is a critical need for legal services among persons of limited means and that law firms should act reasonably to enable and encourage all lawyers in the firm to provide the pro bono legal services called for by this Rule.

It is as if Abigail Seymour started her law firm with these concepts in mind and why she was presented with Greensboro Bar Association Pro Bono Award for 2022 at our member meeting on January 19, 2023.  

Abigail was a photographer and writer for many years in her first career, during which she raised a family.  Then she decided to go to law school.  As a law student, she interned at the Children’s Law Center of Central North Carolina and the Guilford County Public Defender’s Office.  She also volunteered at the Elon University Humanitarian Immigration Law Clinic.  She earned her J.D. from Elon University School of Law in 2017 and thereafter started her own firm, the Camino Law Firm, where she mainly handles family law matters and often does so for underserved communities.  

We understand that she is motivated in her pro bono work by her grandfather who won a case in the U.S. Supreme Court in 1937 – he took on a pro bono case and represented a black man who had been sentenced to 18 to 20 years on a Georgia chain gang for “possessing radical literature.”  The Supreme Court ruled in his favor by a vote of 5 to 4, and his client was freed.

Abigail was recommended by Catherine Johnson, executive director of the Family Justice Center in Guilford County who informed us that:

“Attorney Seymour is actively involved with the immigrant community in Greensboro.  She frequently engages in outreach and programming to build trust and positive relationships.  She understands the value of collaboration and works to ensure her staff knows the resources in the community, like the Family Justice Center.  She demonstrates compassionate care and is always willing to offer consultation or insight when called upon and able.  Attorney Seymour goes above and beyond; her work positively impacts our community.”

The Greensboro Bar Association is proud to honor Abigail Seymour for outstanding pro bono service.